Where Do You Place Your Burdens?

My dining room table often serves as a catch-all for the many things that are carried in and out of my home.  We typically enter the house from the side door, so a quick turn to the left, and there's a nice, open table to lay down our many burdens.  Unfortunately, the busier we get, the more cluttered the table becomes.  For example, it wasn't but a few days ago that I cleaned off the table, but to look at it now, you'd never know.  The empty box from my recent shipment of books occupies one end of the table.  Miscellaneous mail is scattered across the other end.  Receipts.  Bags. Birthday cards.  Gifts. You name it, you can probably find it on my dining room table.

The problem with this "catch-all" system is two-fold.  First off, because the table is cluttered with stuff, Jason and I must eat elsewhere.  There is simply no room for food or fellowship in the midst of the chaos that is my dining room table.  Secondly, laying down our burdens at the table is not the same thing as dealing with them.  They're not only constantly in view, but they're also in the way, creating the necessity of handling the same stuff over and over again until I eventually grow weary enough of it to put it all where it belongs.

So often in life, we are so weary and heavy laden that we simply cannot wait to unload our burdens.  The problem is that we often do as I do with the loads of stuff I dump on my dining room table.  We create a temporary solution that isn't really a solution at all.  Instead of taking our burdens where they belong, we drop them at the first opportunity, not realizing that we'll have to continually stumble around them until they're cast out of sight. 

And in the process, we're creating another problem.  There's no room left for food or fellowship with the Father.  Let's face it, it's nearly impossible for us to focus on the nourishment of the Word and our sweet fellowship with the Father when we're surrounded by a cluttered mess of burdens and worries.  Burdens and worries, mind you, that should have been dealt with immediately instead of merely set aside in hopes that they would magically disappear.  And without the food and fellowship of the Father, our spirits grow more weary and our hearts more heavy.

It's so easy to let my dining room table get cluttered.  When I walk through the door, the first thing I want to do is set down my heavy load.  But wouldn't I be better off to set everything down where it belongs instead of creating more work and frustration for myself in the future?  The same can be said in our spiritual walk.  Yes, we need to lay our burdens down, but unless we're laying them down where they belong--at Jesus' feet--we're only creating more frustration and spiritual clutter, which will eventually drive a wedge between us and our Savior.  It's time to stop the clutter!  Who's with me?

 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. - I Peter 5:7